New look for Piccadilly

TWO eyesore sites at Piccadilly are to be revamped. Property investor Stephen Elias is behind plans to redevelop 10 Victorian buildings on a block fronting Piccadilly Gardens and Manchester developer Bruntwood Estates is starting work on a facelift at No 1 Portland Street.

The so-called Eastern Green site is bounded by Newton Street, Piccadilly, Dale Street and Paton Street.

An urban village of 150 or more apartments is planned for the upper floors of the site.

The ground floor retail units will be improved and re-let. One building - the Prince of Wales Building at 67 Piccadilly - will be demolished to make way for a new building.

A new square will be created at the Dale Street side of the site.

Planning permission was originally granted in 1999, but plans have now changed and a potential start on site in summer 2005 is likely - although whether Elias will develop the site himself, or in partnership with other developers, is said to be undecided.

It has also emerged that Bruntwood Estates is to complete a makeover at 1 Portland Street. The future of the 60,000-sq ft office block - one of the most prominent in the city - has been uncertain for the last five years.

Bruntwood is also at work on a redevelopment of Piccadilly Plaza.

The é20m project will see the plaza re-clad and updated, and the 28-storey office block re-named City Tower. Both initiatives are part of city council-inspired plans to revive the Piccadilly area.